Piketen
Encyclopedia
Piketen is an emergency response asset of the Swedish Police Service
, similar to the SWAT
in the United States
.
Piketen is called in when situations occur that are too dangerous
for ordinary police
to handle, such as hostage situations, arresting armed suspects and arresting barricaded suspects. Piketen has one main task and four secondary tasks.
The main task is dangerous situations in dangerous environments, i.e. hostage situations. Their other tasks are serving high-risk arrest warrants, riot control and escorting VIP's and other objects of value. Piketen has been active since 1979, and its creation was an answer to the events of the Norrmalmstorg robbery
in 1973 where robber Jan Erik "Janne" Olsson took four hostages at Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg ("Norrmalm's Square") in Stockholm.
They are stationed in the three largest cities of Sweden
: Stockholm
, Gothenburg
and Malmö
. Some counties that do not have a Piket-unit have local task forces trained by local police, which have almost the same training as Piketen. Piketen is the best trained police
unit of the Swedish police, next to Nationella Insatsstyrkan ("National Task Force" in Swedish
).
MP5, the Heckler & Koch
G36C and they both use SIG Sauer 226
as sidearm
. Piket officers are very well trained in many methods of entry, such as rapelling and door breaching.
Swedish Police Service
The Swedish Police Service is a collection of Government agencies concerned with police matters in Sweden. The Swedish Police Service consists of 28,500 employees of which 39 per cent are women. The staff consists of 20,000 police officers of which 25 per cent are women and 8,500 civilian staff of...
, similar to the SWAT
SWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Piketen is called in when situations occur that are too dangerous
Dangerous
Dangerous describes something that encompasses danger. It may also refer to:-Artists:*Dangerous!, an Australian hardcore punk band currently signed to Epitaph Records-Albums:*Dangerous...
for ordinary police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
to handle, such as hostage situations, arresting armed suspects and arresting barricaded suspects. Piketen has one main task and four secondary tasks.
The main task is dangerous situations in dangerous environments, i.e. hostage situations. Their other tasks are serving high-risk arrest warrants, riot control and escorting VIP's and other objects of value. Piketen has been active since 1979, and its creation was an answer to the events of the Norrmalmstorg robbery
Norrmalmstorg robbery
The Norrmalmstorg robbery was a bank robbery and hostage crisis best known as the origin of the term Stockholm syndrome. It occurred at the Norrmalmstorg square in Stockholm, Sweden in 1973...
in 1973 where robber Jan Erik "Janne" Olsson took four hostages at Kreditbanken at Norrmalmstorg ("Norrmalm's Square") in Stockholm.
They are stationed in the three largest cities of Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
: Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
and Malmö
Malmö
Malmö , in the southernmost province of Scania, is the third most populous city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg.Malmö is the seat of Malmö Municipality and the capital of Skåne County...
. Some counties that do not have a Piket-unit have local task forces trained by local police, which have almost the same training as Piketen. Piketen is the best trained police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
unit of the Swedish police, next to Nationella Insatsstyrkan ("National Task Force" in Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
).
Weapons
The main weapon of both Piketen and Nationella Insatsstyrkan is the Heckler & KochHeckler & Koch
Heckler & Koch GmbH is a German defense manufacturing company that produces various small arms. Some of their products include the SA80, MP5 submachine gun, G3 automatic rifle, the G36 assault rifle, the HK 416, the MP7 personal defense weapon, the USP series of handguns, and the high-precision...
MP5, the Heckler & Koch
Heckler & Koch
Heckler & Koch GmbH is a German defense manufacturing company that produces various small arms. Some of their products include the SA80, MP5 submachine gun, G3 automatic rifle, the G36 assault rifle, the HK 416, the MP7 personal defense weapon, the USP series of handguns, and the high-precision...
G36C and they both use SIG Sauer 226
SIG P226
The SIG P226 is a full-sized, service-type pistol made by SIG Sauer. It is chambered for the 9×19mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, .357 SIG, and .22 Long Rifle. It is essentially the same basic design of the SIG P220, but developed to use higher capacity, staggered-column magazines in place of the...
as sidearm
Sidearm
In baseball, sidearm describes balls thrown along a low, approximately horizontal axis rather than a high, mostly vertical axis ....
. Piket officers are very well trained in many methods of entry, such as rapelling and door breaching.